ESPN's Bottom Line Widget

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

So yeah... that just happened...

Reason for them to be excited...

Didn't see that one coming. At all.

With a 7-3 win over Russia, Canada advances to the semi-finals.

The general poor play of Russian goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, seen above giving up two goals, didn't help any as he gave up six before getting the yank in favor of Ilya Bryzgalov. NHL stars Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin we held in check.

On the other end of the spectrum, Canada had zero problem solving Russia. From start to finish they seemed to be on top of them.

The cobwebs from the USA game seemed to have shaken off with Canada putting up 15 goals in the past two games.

This means Canada is guaranteed to play for a medal no matter what happens next game against Slovakia on Friday.

Also securing a chance to play for a medal no matter what, Team USA.

A 2-0 win over the Swiss team should seem concerning but the stellar goaltending of Jonas Hiller, who stopped 41 of 42 shots he faced, kept the game close for 59 minutes.

With the win, the US takes on the Fin's to play for Gold against the winner of Canada/Sweden. It continues to lay on the very capable shoulders of Ryan Miller and the chipping of offense from the various role players on Team USA.